Murkowski keeps committee slot

Republican senators backed away from tougher sanctions against Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski for defying her party’s wishes in her state’s Senate race, a surprise move that could give her new ammunition in her uphill write-in bid for reelection.

After hinting strongly that the party would strip her of her post as ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Republican Conference decided it wasn’t worth taking such an action with just a few days left in the congressional session and little committee action expected.

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But the move means Murkowski is still the top Republican on a committee vital to her state’s interests, giving her a chance to argue that she retains some clout as she campaigns against GOP nominee Joe Miller in Alaska.

“We just voted to keep the status quo,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). “We all decided that it’s a better thing to do.”

Murkowski, who on Wednesday was campaigning in Alaska, said in a one-line statement that she looked “forward to continuing to serve as the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”

Murkowski had already resigned as the fifth-ranking senator in the GOP Conference, and senators on Wednesday voted to install Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso in her place as vice chairman of the conference.

The election of Barrasso adds to the GOP leadership a lawmaker who is popular with his colleagues — and who, as a physician, railed against the health care bill. At a time of extraordinary turnover in the Senate, Barrasso’s election shows how quickly a three-year senator can catapult into the inner leadership circle without gaining years of seniority.

But his election ensures that there are no women in the Senate Republican leadership — an issue not lost on some lawmakers as they decided whether to take further action against a friend and colleague.

The fast-moving developments have been a roller coaster for Murkowski, who until last month seemed to be on a sure path to reelection and was laying the groundwork to be a GOP leader for years to come.